I've intentionally not posted my opinions on football because to be quite honest, I'm one of the fans the hardcore football fan despise. Basketball first and I'd be forever content with football winning 6 games and going to some worthless afterthought of a bowl game.
That said - I'd like to actually comment on the role M.J. has. KSR has done more to keep my interest in football post Tim Couch than anything a coach or player has done on the field. Honestly without KSR, I'd have little knowledge of the players. I doubt the casual fan would know who Elam is nor would they care. The reason I say this is because its a preface to the point I'm about to make.
KSR has helped to create a monster in fan expectations regarding UK football. Understand, I realize UK football has a large number of dedicated fans but the exposure the UK program has received on a daily basis from the KSR blog (and consequently the radio show) has really driven fan interest beyond the hardcore dedicated.
Joker and Stoops have both benefited and felt detrimental effects of the KSR reach into the fanbase.
After the Florida loss, I was a bit surprised at the almost uniform condemnation of both Stoops and Mitch, as well as the commentary about UK football generally tossing in the towel on the site. Not one but multiple posts for consecutive days on the program, with breakdowns on well..where we broke down to a detailed explanation of the coaches buyout.
This is noticeable to me in one sense, KSR has officially broken their once cardinal rule of not pissing off the UK administration in order to maintain access and grow their "product".
I just wonder if that is a "we are big enough to be on our own and UK needs us as much as we need them" kind of thing or if UK football is just such a easy target, there is seldom any repercussions for public disdain for the state of the program?
At any rate, perhaps MJ is going for a similar analogy following LBJ observing Cronkite turning on him after the TET offensive in Vietnam. "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the nation" - is at a macro level "If I've lost Matt Jones, I've lost the Kentucky fanbase"